i am seeking, i am striving, i am in it with all my heart. -vincent van gogh

Girl: Happy

“There are all sorts of things that have to be tended to in the world.”
-Marian Cannon Shlesinger, little old lady

I happened upon this article today and was thoroughly inspired. Marian Cannon Shlesinger, a centenarian and a spitfire, imparts the wisdom she’s gathered while on this walk we call existing. This time in my life is somewhat precarious. I feel that I “should” be the owner of things that are not yet in my possession. And though I do not boast enough hands on which to count my blessings, sometimes it can be discouraging to be denied the things I desire most deeply.

Marion encourages: “Early on I decided being a painter was what I wanted to be but I wanted to be a lot of other things too. I wanted to write. I wanted to play tennis. I wanted to have a lot of friends. I wanted to have a lot of beaus. I think I’ve been very lucky. But I think that I’ve made some of it for myself. I never gave up. I wanted it all, in other words, and I think I really almost got it all too.”

I guess it’s important to remind ourselves that we can have our own definitions of “it all”, maybe just not all at once.